Crowds celebrate Winnie Mandela's life at Soweto memorial service

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Mourners gather in Soweto for the memorial service for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Soweto, South Africa (CNN)Thousands of mourners gathered Wednesday in South Africa for a public memorial service for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the anti-apartheid campaigner and former wife of the late President Nelson Mandela.

The memorial in Soweto comes ahead of a funeral service to be held on Saturday.

Madikizela-Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital on April 2 at the age of 81, after what her family said was a long illness. She was known as the "Mother of the Nation" because of her struggle against white minority rule in South Africa.

South African students sing and dance with other mourners at the memorial service.

Singing echoed round the Orlando Stadium in Soweto township as the mourners, some dancing as they sang, remembered Madikizela-Mandela's life in a lengthy service. Many were clad in the black, green and gold of the ruling African National Congress political party, some in T-shirts with an image of Madikizela-Mandela.

Among the many to pay tribute were Deputy President David Mabuza, South African Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and Rita Ndzanga, a close family friend and fellow anti-apartheid activist.

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Mabuza recalled Madikizela-Mandela as a "unifier and a visionary of note" who had championed reconciliation, and said her lasting monument would be "for all South Africans to unite behind the vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, just and prosperous society."

He also recognized the example she had been to many women. "You taught young women across the nation that they are just as capable, if not more capable, of standing shoulder to shoulder with men and being totally unapologetic about it," Mabuza said. "Till death, you knew who your enemy was: racial domination, class exploitation, gender oppression."

A man holds up a frame showing newspaper clippings of Madikizela-Mandela.

Madikizela-Mandela's grandson, Bambatha Mandela, said it was a time for mourning but also a time to celebrate the life of an "extraordinary woman" who was "a mother, a soldier, an icon."

He paid tribute to her efforts in support of his grandfather and criticized those who questioned her legacy. "Behind every great man is a greater woman. Umama was the embodiment of that quote," he said, using a local word for mother.

Bambatha Mandela added that his grandmother had never moved away from Soweto, as many others had, because she wanted to live among the people for whom she had fought.

Several of Madikizela-Mandela's great-grandchildren also spoke in remembrance of her. "Big mummy, we all love you," said one.

"Fellow South Africans, we have lost a mother, we have lost a friend," said Madikizela-Mandela's personal assistant, Zodwa Zwane.

Madikizela-Mandela was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, including the 27 years he was imprisoned on an island near Cape Town.

Nelson and Winnie Mandela raise fists to supporters after his release from jail in February 1990.

A longtime stalwart of the ANC, she was a member of South Africa's parliament at the time of her death.

ANC Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte said Madikizela-Mandela had loved the party and that her life's work of "returning the land to the people" must continue. "This is our hero, this is our heroine, we know her worth -- she gave everything to us," Duarte said.

Following her death, Ramaphosa praised Madikizela-Mandela as "an advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalized" and "a voice for the voiceless."

"Even at the darkest moments of our struggle for liberation, Mam' Winnie was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free," Ramaphosa said in a statement. "In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance. In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality."

Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa and the former wife of late President Nelson Mandela, has died at the age of 81. The outspoken campaigner was known as the "Mother of the Nation" because of her struggle against white minority rule in South Africa. She was a member of South Africa's parliament at the time of her death.

The Mandelas were married for 38 years, including the 27 years that he was imprisoned on an island near Cape Town, South Africa.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

People gather in support of Madikizela-Mandela as she leaves a court in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1964. Her husband had just been sentenced to life in prison.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela is pictured in 1977, during her exile in Brandfort, South Africa.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela, center, celebrates alongside her daughter Zindzi and other supporters following her release from Johannesburg Magistrates Court. She had been arrested for defying a court order that banned her from entering Soweto, an area at the center of the anti-apartheid movement in Johannesburg.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela and her two daughters -- Zenani, left, and Zindzi -- arrive at Cape Town's airport to visit her imprisoned husband in 1985.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela is pictured with her grandson in 1986.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela poses in traditional dress in 1986.

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Madikizela-Mandela appears at an African National Congress rally in Soweto.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Nelson Mandela is joined by his wife after being released from prison in February 1990.

The Mandelas are welcomed by former first lady Jackie Kennedy during a visit to Boston in 1990.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela shakes hands with supporters in Rustenburg, South Africa, in 1997. She had just been elected president of the African National Congress Women's League.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela leads a protest march during an international AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2000.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela, right, joins her ex-husband and his third wife, Graca Machel, during his 90th birthday celebrations in Tshwane, South Africa, in 2008.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela attends her ex-husband's state funeral in 2013.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela greets a crowd of supporters in Soweto for her 80th birthday in 2016.

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Photos:The life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Madikizela-Mandela joins the hands of South African President Jacob Zuma, left, and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa during an African National Congress policy conference in 2017.

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Born in 1936 in what is now known as Eastern Cape province, Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela was the daughter of a history teacher.

As a 22-year-old social worker, she married Nelson Mandela in 1958, and stood by him in the years following his 1964 conviction and life imprisonment for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.

Madikizela-Mandela led an international campaign calling for his release.

Outside Africa, Madikizela-Mandela was known largely because of her ex-husband, but in South Africa she was the mouthpiece and face of the bitter struggle against the racist regime.

Although Madikizela-Mandela helped usher in a new, more equitable South African political system during her lifetime, she was also entangled in a number of scandals over the years.

CNN's Eleni Giokos reported from Soweto and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Robyn Curnow, David McKenzie and Hilary Clarke contributed to this report.